"Souji? You alright?" You call out to the young man, keeping your eyes trained at the grinning, hulking monstrosity in front of you, the spiked metal pillars serving as its arms resembling huge goremauls than anything else. Its massive, scarred chest heaving up and down as it sucked in air from between its rotting teeth. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah?" You risk a glance at him - he's gone completely white, as white as the coat he's wearing. "Listen, take Kat and run to the docks. You know where the Rafflesia's docked, right? Go there, get Kat into the ship and have Fran start on fixing her. I'll catch up after I let off a little stress with Butterfingers here."

Jesus Christ. Listen to yourself. It's like you're in some sort of third-rate anime, or something.

"N-no, I can't," The young man says much too quickly, and despite the tremor in his voice, you know he's serious. "I can't just leave you, that thing--"

"...will kill you," You finish for him, bluntly. Your vox speakers robbing your voice of all warmth. "Come on, Souji. You're Fran's assistant, that means you're smart. What can you do in this situation, huh? Talk him to death?" You turn towards him again, just for a second. "Run, dammit. RUN."

"But--"

"RUN!" You scream at him, just as Strauss' pet begins to roar - the glowing glass vial jutting out of its abdoment, welded and held there by jagged pieces of metal, beginning to shine a bright, blinding red. Washing out every other color around it, its contents churning. "I TOLD YOU TO FUCKING RUN!"

Whether he was actually cowed by you screaming at him or by Butterfingers suddenly exploding into a bestial charge - the ground trembling with every step the monstrous giant took - you let out a sigh of relief as Souji finally takes off, carrying Ekaterina's limp form in his arms, legs desperately pumping up and down as he sprinted away. ...Kid's a fast runner for someone who looked like they spent the entire day on the internet.

That's one less thing to worry about. Now, to worry about the other thing, here--

Throwing yourself to the side - the roll you tuck yourself into making several of your already-bruised ribs stab more painfully in protest - and you barely avoid being reduced to a smear on the ground by Butterfingers' first charge.

Forcing yourself back on your feet - despite every cell in your body screaming for you to just lie down and rest - you dodge a brutish swing from its spiked arms, and another, and another. The last one missing you by bare millimeters, with one of the spikes actually managing to scratch a deep furrow across the top of your helmet.

...Shit, you'll have to use 'that', won't you? This thing doesn't look like it'll even flinch if you hit it full force in the face with a crowbar.

You take the opportunity to try it out a second after you think it, ducking underneath a swing that would have torn you neatly in half had you been a split-second slower. You bring the crowbar into its face in a double-handed, overhead axe cleave - and all you managed to do, despite the impact feeling like you just broke both your arms in the process, was make it even more angry.

Well. Fuck that, then.

You toss the crowbar aside - your favorite wetwork tool now bent into L-shaped uselessness - and it's here that you break into a run. A full-out run back up the Red Line Highway, your booted feet kicking up loose asphalt. Butterfingers letting out another earth-shaking roar behind you, before giving chase.

"Running?" Strauss' voice crackles into life in your ear. "Zat is vhat you're doing? Phahahaha! Look at zis! You are actually thinking you can escape him!" Another bout of cackling. "No one runs from Butterfingers, my dear Culexus!"

"No doubt," You reply. "But I'm not running, you lunatic."

"Oh?" Strauss chuckles. "Zen vhat are you--"

"Getting into range."

You hold out your hand to your side, gloved fingers spreading momentarily, before you curl them around a slender rose stalk, easily as long as you are tall.

Why does it have to be a rose? Why the fuck does it have to be a bow?

A flash of bright, painfully-pink light, and a giant rose blossom unfurls at its tip, blazing with pink flame.

At the same time, a solid beam of pure crimson light materializes in your other hand, crackling eagerly in your grip. Energy manifested and compressed into a single, streamlined shaft, literally shaking with restrained explosive force.

You skid to a halt the moment you hear Strauss' monster give another roar - and you spin neatly on your heel just as you nock arrow to bow and pull back. Despite having no visible drawstring, you feel the teeth-gritting resistance of one pushing back against your hand, the rose stalk tensing as you strain for every inch.

And as you aim - forcing your shaking arms still as you find your center - you see the hulking form of Butterfingers closing the distance between you with every moment. You managed to put twenty paces between you - now he was rapidly eating it up in a loping run. Both spiked arms spread on either side of him.

>>28487638Hrm...Well, I was half-right about 'that'. It's just the bow.

[X]Shoot the shiny.Shooting the face may not do anything. The red gem changes colors. It is either a restraint unit, or its' 'heart' of sorts.That, and in the chance we miss...Well, better to hit a solid chunk of body than miss the head.

>>28487809>Not having a HUD in your biker helmet>Not having it set to automatically google any word that comes through that is not registered as known by you>Not having it pull up important information about any searched nouns automatically

>>28487978>2noir4meYeah well, I really like Malal. She's like the only character who's admitted that MG's are just fucking murderhobos out for the money and the excitement of killing people and is trying to make amends for it. It's a much-needed injection of thought into thins mindless blundering.

>>28488106Implying they don't end up as hired killers one way or the other, or working for an organization that runs hired killers. That's like all they do, there's no community service witch eradicating left here.

>>28488355Not that different. Mami's basically the same, KyoukoxSayaka is practically canon anyway, and Homu is homuhomu.The only real change is Miss Not Appearing In This Quest Because You Turned Her Into A Witch You Monster.But that's canon for Rebellion anyway so whatever.

Oh wait, I just realised something. Strauss claims to have created the first Maerorus, a perfect union between Witch and Magical Girl.But Faust. Who was created by Murderface. Accidentally.I_accidentally_a_goddess_is_this_bad.jpg when?

>>28488298Depends. Not really. Read Oriko Magica or Kazumi Magica instead since some of those characters show up in MGNQ.

Kazumi Magica has an interesting premise and Theme of "Teenage girls are all backstabbing cunts" is alsodecent, its just that the Story gets batshit-retarded after the first few chapters.

Orico Magica is just more suffering like in the animus and could be considered one of the timelines Homuhomu lands in before saving Madoka and by that I mean fucking the Universe sideways. It als features the second cutest Meguca off all.

>>28488417Yeah, not too far from how I'd sum up the mangoes.Official series manga: Crap retelling. Just watch the anime.Kazumi: A ton of potential and some interesting bits, but too many characters with zero development and most of them have some really weird designs and yet are somehow still forgettable, and the entire plot goes insane and arbitrarily ass-upwards and is just groan-inducing. Oriko: Potential in the other direction, since it manages to not have a billion characters, and better designs too. Gives Homura a foil which is interesting. But still not all that great, and the art is kind of shitty. Overall my opinion would be to just read Oriko and maybe try Kazumi if you have a free day and just want to power through it for some free dumb mindfuck.

All your life you've applied one simple philosophy to fighting - aim for the head, and any fight you're in would end quickly and easily. It's served you well, whether you had a gun or a crowbar in your hands, or whether you were aiming to just put them down or kill them. And it worked on everything you've had to tangle with so far - yakuza, witches, and Magical Girls.

Butterfingers doesn't seem to apply to any of them, so you're forced, for now, to consider an alternative. And from what you can see...well, you're not going to let such an obvious target go, aren't you?

It's with this in mind that you lower your aim just by a few inches - and, struggling to keep your grip on the furiously-vibrating shaft of violent crimson energy - you let the arrow of light fly.

Like no arrow you've ever loosed in the practice ranges, the shaft of light seems to pause a few moments in mid-flight. Hovering there, mere feet away from you, mere feet away from the rampaging berserker with fucking goremauls for arms seeking to tear you limb from limb.

Then - in the space of two of your own heartbeats - it grows bigger. Brighter. Until it's flooding everything with its harsh searing light, a crimson star going supernova right in front of you.

Hot enough that your helmet beeps in alarm, detecting temperatures hotter than the surface of the fucking sun.

Hot enough that you see what little left of Butterfingers' face there is shrivel up into blackened, charred flesh.

And only then does it continue on its flight. Faster - much faster than you've ever seen anything fly. Fast enough that it actually roars itself in passing - a sonic boom that your helmet hastily tries to dampen, so it doesn't shatter your eardrums. It barely manages to.

It hits Butterfingers, right where you aimed it, and keeps on going. It seems to just pass right through the rampaging behemoth - no noise, no blood, and certainly no explosion. As if you simply shot it into empty air, rather at something made out of flesh and bone and hate.

And as you watch the arrow disappear into the horizon as a single point of light - almost a star - it's here that you find yourself looking through the perfect hole in Butterfingers' midsection, exactly one foot in diameter. The edges blackened, the flesh inside perfectly cauterized. Cored right fucking through.

Butterfingers falls. Just before it completes its charge, it pitches forward, its massively-muscled legs buckling underneath it, suddenly nerveless. There's a dull crack as its face slams into the asphalt, but no cry of pain issues from its many-toothed mouth. The rest of it follow afterward, the typical boneless thud of a corpse surrendering to gravity.

Jesus. That's...you should probably use the bow more often, huh?

"No...NO!" Strauss is screaming in your ear as you fall to the ground yourself, the rose-stalk bow disappearing in your grasp. "BUTTERFINGERS! MY CHILD! YOU...YOU VEREN'T SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM! YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE VHORE, I WILL MURDER YOU--"

You'd have replied, if it weren't for the fact that you needed to throw up, a sudden wave of crippling nausea crashing hard into you.

Something hot and scalding and sour crawling up your throat and filling your mouth. You fall to your knees here as both your hands come up to claw at your throat, at the pressure seals securing your helmet in place. No, no, you're not going to throw up in your helmet again, no--

I've been thinking about the kind of wish that would create a culexus ever since that time in the silent room with Omegon.If a normal wish that causes someone happiness gives a magical girl regular magic powers, to get a magical girl that is instead a sort of void that swallows magical power, wouldn't it make sense that it was a wish that directly caused despair?

Your helmet hits the asphalt with a crack and rolls away from you as you retch hot, black, stinking blood into the asphalt. The gory vomit falling too fast and too thick, creating a filthy puddle between your hands, too copious for the ground to drink with any speed.

Another heave sends more blood into the road, some of it splashing on Butterfinger's ruined face.

...Oh. Right. This is why you don't use the fucking bow at all.

BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU THROW UP FUCKING BLOOD.

"Do you see?" A voice suddenly speaks up behind you. A cold voice, one brimming with hate and venom and just a touch of premeditated murder. And all too familiar. "Do you see what's going on here, Madoka? Do you see what the contract's done to you?"

You turn to look at her, squinting. Your eyes aren't all that used to unfiltered light. Too much time looking at everything from behind a visor.

...It's her. Black hair, black wings, stylish fucking dress.

Her face twisted into an expression of utter hate.

"You'll die. You'll die, and everything you're planning for will be for nothing."

You don't have any more blood puke left in you, it feels like, but you spit what's left in your mouth at her in reply instead. It lands by her stockinged feet, depressingly far from the mark you've aimed the gob of sour spit and clotting blood at - you were aiming at her face = but it seems to do the job in making her angrier.

Blood puke. ...Hey, that's a good song title--oh, wait. Somebody already wrote that. Good song, though, one of your party favorites.

"Oh, very mature. Cuts right to the quick." Her mouth twisting into a snarl, she steps forward, bright purple eyes flashing. "I told you not to take the contract, right? I can't save you if your soul's trapped inside a Soul Gem. Why didn't you listen? WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN, MADOKA?!"

She screams your first name in a harsh, keening wail, loud enough to echo across the empty landscape that the Red Line Highway cuts through to the docks.

You shake your head here, keeping silent as you retrieve your helmet. Checking it for damage, frowning as you see the cut that Butterfingers made on its surface. ...He's ruined the cool skull thing you had custom-printed, too! You'll have to get this one repaired when you get back.

"You're ignoring me?" Her tone is incredulous now. "You're ACTUALLY ignoring me? After all I've done for you, after I've gone through for you - to SAVE you - you're giving the cold shoulder?" It's here that you feel a cold hand grasp your upper arm, cold enough for you to feel through the thick padded leather of your suit. "Madoka, you can't do this to me. I love you. I LOVE YOU. Don't do this to me, I'm the only one who loves you this much--"

You pull your arm free from her grip. No. You don't talk back to crazy. You never talk back to crazy.

"Ma..Madoka?" She sounds hurt, now, and seems to choke before grabbing your arm. "N-no. No, Madoka, look at me. PLEASE! Please, I've sacrificed so much for you!" She's crying now, loud helpless sobs, angry tears tinged with bitter despair and anguish. "I've killed so many people, so many timelines, just so we can be together again! Please, at least look at me! MADOKA!"

You crunch your helmet back down onto your head, the pressure seals hissing and clicking to place. Your HUD notifying you of the fact that your suit's limiter settings had been on EMERGENCY MODE the entire time, and was now just going back to NORMAL, now that your helmet's back on.

You let out a breath, and it's here that you turn to check.

. . .

Gone. No one there, only Butterfingers' lifeless corpse.

Just like it should be.

. . .

Right. Anyway.

You should call in, probably. Have Fran send a motorized transport to pick up Souji and Ekaterina, and then you. Before Strauss' goons - or Strauss herself - decides to come back and send more surprises your way.

It's here, then, that the familiar rumble of a punknaught interrupts your thoughts - and you see a very familiar one thunder down the road toward you, its brutally-spiked front fender blackened and warped with grenade explosion damage.

Oh. Well. Just what you needed, then.

Jesus, no one deserves your luck--

"Miss Malal!" A megaphone-amplified voice erupts from inside the idling punknaught, and the hatch at the very top pops open to reveal a young, familiar face with long white hair. She waves at you, all smiles. "Need a lift?"

...Hey! It's that Canadian Magical Girl! Odette...something! You already forgot!

>>28489153Puchimasu! ( ! Is part of the name sometimes )It is the anime of a 4koma gag comic based on idolm@sterThe characters are generally reduced to fan stereotypes but it is worth watching since the episodes are like 3 minutes long and pretty good for light entertainment

>>28489180>I've killed so many people, so many timelines, just so we can be together again!Next time, should we say that the reason we don't love her back is BECAUSE she's done all these horrible things?

>>28489768>NevilleYou know, Chamberlain really gets a bad rap for that.Yes, it was appeasement on the outside, but what he was really doing was buying England time to arm up for what he saw as the inevitable conflict with the Reich. If they had gone to war then, they would have been stomped into the ground hard, since the Empire wasn't on a war footing.As soon as Chamberlain had secured the extra time he needed, he immediately started building up the military and opening factories for weapons and ammunition.

You grin sheepishly from behind your helmet's faceplate and apologize. You'll remember this time, you promise. But hey, perfect timing! You do in fact need a lift, after Big, Dead and Ugly over there wrecked Schpeltiger.

"Eh?" She turns to follow your pointing finger, only to pale at the sight of Butterfingers' corpse. "T-that thing? You killed that yourself, Miss Malal?"

Yep. Took a bit of doing, but there it is, you reply, as you walk over to your borrowed bike's wreckage. ...Urgh, Nicole's going to get so pissed. It looks like it can be fixed, sure, but not without extensive repair.

"You'd better pay me back in full, Ash Ketchum," you could almost hear her growl at you.

Might as well take it with you back to the ship, you think. You call to Odette, who's poking at Butterfingers' burnt skull with the tip of her spear, if she could help you tie Schpeltiger onto the roof of the punknaught.

"Oh, sure, Miss Malal! It'll be my pleasure!"

And does she have any more of her candies? You kind of want to get the taste of something out of your mouth.

"Oh, of course! I have more than enough to last me the entire duration of my service!"

With her help, you manage to chain Schpeltiger's ruined wreck onto the back of the punknaught, and soon you're rolling down Red Line Highway - you on the wheel and Odette carefully feeding you a candy every now and then, doing it the way you showed her. A few minutes into the drive and you see Souji limping along, wheezing deep, ragged breaths as he continued to carry Ekaterina to the docks. ...Well, he didn't get THAT far, but not for lack of trying.

After briefly making the young man piss his pants by pretending to be a ganger over the megaphone, you had Odette usher him into the punknaught, along with his precious cargo. Souji was so exhausted that the moment he managed to sit down, he fell dead asleep - his arms still around the comatose Ekaterina. This suit you just fine - you're not exactly up to answering his inevitable question of how you survived your encounter with Butterfingers.

Instead, you asked Odette about...well, how she managed to get the punknaught. You were expecting her to be back at the Rafflesia with Madaraki!

"Well, I was on my way to escort her there, Miss Malal, but she changed her mind about halfway there, and asked me to get back to the city and try to assist you in any way that I can."

Odette says as she unwraps another piece of candy. "By the time I got there, all the gangers were scrambling out of their dens and into their vehicles, screaming about getting the bounty on your head, Miss Malal. So I stole into the nearest punknaught I could find, started it up and smashed my way through anyone who wanted to stop me."

"T-thank you," The white-haired girl murmurs bashfully, blushing. "It wasn't as if it was anything difficult, though, really. I was expecting something like a tank's control scheme, but it's really just a huge truck thing with a lot of stuff bolted on." She sniffs here contemptuously, before deftly removing your helmet's air filter plate and dropping the candy through. "There you go, Miss Malal. That's the last one."

Eh? But what about her?

"Oh, it's fine, Miss Malal! I'm happy to let you have the rest, I've never met anyone who likes them as much as you do!" She smiles again, brightly. "Besides, it's actually cute, the way you eat them in such a funny way - through your helmet, I mean." Odette giggles here, before blinking. "Um, I mean no offense, of course, Miss Malal."

Hah. None taken.

Really cute kid. Hopefully being a Warmaster doesn't make her lose this kind of feeling.

You reach the docks - and the Rafflesia - soon after that, with you radioing in to notify Fran that you are in fact in a punknaught, and no, they shouldn't shoot you.

...Fuck's sake, Fran wasn't kidding. It IS actually a fucking battleship, but modified enough that it kind of looks like a cruise ship at first glance. For one, it's painted completely white, with its name written on its side with golden cursive.

The control tower thing at the center also seems to be redecorated, sporting less of the armaments that you'd see bristling from it and more...well, you don't know what those are, but they definitely look less like navy tech and more science-y. Yeah. Science-y.

But still it's a fucking battleship. Iowa-class if you're any judge. How the fuck did they get their hands on something like that?

"Ahh, Miss Malaaaal!" Madaraki Fran greets you as you and your party finally make it on board, Schpeltiger included. "I was so worried you wouldn't make it! So worrieeeed that I even sent Odette-chan here to help any way she could!" Her eyes light up at the sight of the Canadian. "You helped Miss Malal heeeere, didn't you? Didn't she, Malal?"

Yeah. Yeah, she did.

"Hahaha~ Good, that's good! Very good, Odette-chan!" She pats the white-haired girl on the head, making her blush redder. "Mmm, well, that makes us a full ship, then! Have the gangway and anchor raised, we're leaving this hellish city and setting sail for Japan!"

She turns towards the other staff waiting behind her. "Medicae! Get the patient on a gurney and have her prepped for surgery in theater one, quickly!" She gestures towards Ekaterina, still held tightly in Souji's arms.

"Miss Madaraki?" Souji hesitates here, as the crew takes Ekaterina from his grasp and gently places her on the gurney. "M-May I assist in the procedure? I...I helped bring her here, and--"

"Oh?" Fran blinks at him, before turning to you. "He did this? For sure?"

You nod again. ...Why's that suddenly so hard to believe?

"Oh." The blonde scientist blinks again, before nodding. "Ah, sure. Just make sure you are cleaned up, okay? Have the Medicae sanitize you first for the operation before you step into the theater!"

Souji grins at this. "T-thank you, Miss Madaraki!"

"...What did you do to him?" Fran whispers to you as Souji follows the medicae crew deeper into the ship. "He does not even leave his computer of his, much less actually step outside." It's here that her eyes go wide. "You...you did not do any Culexus Tricks on him, did you? Or..." Her surprised expression turns into a sly one. "...did you seduce him?"

>>28490118[X] "I wanted him to look deeply in to my eyes and use my sweet voice to persuade him to help. But then I remembered that this thing is like a one way mirror and my voice sounds like sandpaper through this vox. It was probably Ekaterina."

>>28490118[x]"That's flattering. Girlish charm doesn't get through a half inch of air-sealed angrogynous bike suit and vox interference, though. If anyone seduced him, it was that damsel in distress there."

You snort as you fall in step with Fran, Odette following close behind. Yeah, of course. Seduced him like a motherfucker. Your girlish charms counterbalanced with your rough, delinquent exterior proved way too much for Souji to resist, along with your silky-smooth voice and perfect figure. You had him eating out of your hand.

...No, of course you didn't. She does realize the Culexus suit isn't made to be flattering, right? It isn't conducive to Callidus-type things - hell, the vox makes you sound like an irritated robot most of the time!

"Are you sure? Maybe some guys actually like that, you knoooow. Like, a tough girl exterior but actually sweet and kind inside...hahaha~!"

Yeah, yeah. Well, anyway. It wasn't you, it was Ekaterina all along. Somewhere along the line he started liking her, enough that he actually trusted you to take her somewhere safe.

"Hnnn...I see. Well, maybe he's not as unreliable as I said he was, Miss Malaaaal." She taps her chin with a finger, thoughtfully.

Well, he did help out a lot, so maybe.

"I will think about this further. Maybe it's time to promote him a bit, in light of this." It's here that she claps both hands. "But ah, besides that! Today, Miss Malal, a new day dawns upon us, the Thirteenth! With the blessing of our Incubator, we have successfully ousted our now-former Warmaster, the Doktor Emma Strauss, and have elected a new one in her stead!"

Oh? Who is it, then?

It's here that Fran flushes pink, but with her skin being so pale, bordering on translucent, that the blush looks more red than anything else. "Well, um, my colleagues agreed that I should be the new Warmaster, Miss Malal." She smiles sheepishly.

"A-ah, but I promise not to make the same mistakes as she did! Furthermore, I formally replace the Warmaster title with a more fitting role for our Officio - Chief Director!"

Ahh. Well...she'd be the choice you'd pick too, if it were up to you. Chief Director sounds like a...calmer title than Warmaster. It's a good choice.

"A-ah, you think so too?" Fran grins, here, clearly relieved and pleased with your approval. "Oh, and also, because of your assistance, Miss Malal, I'd like you to have the pleasure of breaking it to Strauss herself!"

Hah, what? That...well, you guess that'd be great, but...you don't need to go back into Varrigan City again, do you?

"Oh, no! Of course not, Miss Malal! We have technology!" Fran takes what looks like a smartphone from the inside of her coat - and from how it looks, it's been ringing for quite a while. This she hands to you. "The person calling should be Miss Strauss herself, most likely calling to warn us that you're headed our waaay. I've been dropping her calls since this morning, so..." She smiles at you, cheekily again.

Heh. Well. Don't mind if you do, then.

You patch the call to your helmet, and answer it through your own comms. There's a click as the connection is finally established, and when Strauss' voice finally comes through...well. Suffice to say she's pretty fucking pissed.

"Fran? Fran, you stupid girl!" Strauss all but snarls at you. "Vhy haven't you been answering your verdammt phone?! Ugh, I vill have you sanctioned for it later. But listen, zat Culexus from earlier, she is headed towards the docks now! Most probably towards your position! Have za guns ready to shoot her out of existence - I don't care if you reduce ze docks to a smoking ruin! Make her pay for killing Butterfingers!"

>>28491118[x] "The party you are calling is no longer available. Your Officio is currently undergoing restructuring, and your position has been converted to an outgoing status. Your security clearances are now expired. Good day."

>>28491118[x] "Get fucked."No, wait, sorry, let's try that again.>[x] "Hello, Strauss. This is Malal. Would you mind staying in one place so we can fire you properly? Thanks." Then turn to Fran and say, "Can we hit her with something big from here?"

>>28491118"Strauss....Strauss...this is your conscience speaking. Just kidding, this is "zat Culexus", on your internal communications, chatting with you on an encrypted transmission. It has come to pass that you are ousted as Warmaster, so please wait warmly as your retirement package is on the way. Please also ignore the "Nuclear launch detected" messages, no doubt playing on your computers, as that was a mistake when I hacked into your communications."

Actually it's always fun to see people so enthusiastic, though! I just can't into consolidating write-in votes so they usually just all get recorded, because if I consolidated it'd defeat the purpose of taunting the mad scientist or whatever. Words! Nya!

"Fran? Fran! Fran, come on, get your head out of ze clouds for vonce--" Strauss tries again, before you interrupt her with a chuckle.

"Vhat? Who...who is this? Who are you? What are you doing on this line?"

You let her stew for a moment before replying. Oh, man. You wish you could just take this moment, bottle it, and savor it for eternity.

Not every day you can tell a Warmaster that she'd just been shitcanned.

"It's zat Culexus, Emma." You say loudly, clearly, making damn well sure she can hear the smile on your face. "I'm already here on the Rafflesia and killed everyone. And you're fired."

"...YOU!" Strauss all but roars into your speakers, making you wince. "Thief! Liar! Murderer! I do not know how you got Madaraki's phone, but I svear you will make you pay for all of your sins--"

"Really? Well. I was just kidding. About the killing thing." You chuckle here again. "But you're still totally fired."

"Fired?" Strauss stops her cursing and raving long enough to spit that at you. "Vhat nonsense are you spouting now? I cannot be fired by you--"

"You can, Ma'am Strauss," Fran says, taking her phone from you and speaking into its receiver. "For your unethical research and experimentation methods, as well as using Officio resources for unsanctioned procedures, we have unanimously decided that you are no longer fit for the role of Warmaster." The blonde scientist smiles at you. "As Miss Malal had so succinctly put it, Ma'am Emma Strauss, you are fired. I am the Warmaster now, and therefore Captain of the Rafflesia"

Silence. Utter silence at the end of the line.

"VHAT?!" Strauss shrieks again. "No! NO! ZE THIRTEENTH IS MINE!" Something shatters in the background, something made of glass. "IT VAS I WHO CAME UP WITH EVERYTHING! All ze procedures, all the experiments, all ze research! FRAN! FRAN, SHE KILLED BUTTERFINGERS, FRAN!"

"...Then she treated him more humanely than you ever did." Fran murmurs into the line, her voice shaking slightly. "And while I should ask Misaka-chan to have the Rafflesia shell Varrigan City into smithereens, I will not. I will let you live out your life, Ma'am Strauss, despite the fact that you never let your subjects live out theirs. Because I am not you."

"And that horrible business is done!" The Thirteenth's new Warmaster manages to work up a smile as she slips her phone back into her coat. "Now, will you join me in helping clean up our past mistakes, Miss Malal? Starting with the patie--er, young Ekaterina, of course!"

You nod. Yeah, of course you'll join her. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

"Perfect! Oh, and I must introduce you to Misaka-chan, she's been wanting to meet a Culexus since ever! She thinks the suits are very cool!"

"Oh, we don't have the proper ammunition for that! Not nearly enough!" Fran waves her hand.

Ah. So it was a bluff, then.

"Well, I suppose! But then again, Misaka-chan had just finished this new batch of ammunition to use with our main turrets, though. Something called White Phosphorus? I haven't really heard of it before. Ah, this way to the operating theatre, Miss Malal!"

...Well, at the very least, the Thirteenth seems to be in good hands. Madaraki seems to be more interested in science than trying to become another superpower.

You have a feeling you'll need her help soon. Or at least she would, after you're gone.

>>28491352In hindsight I think we could have gone with a more business approach. Something like,"Miss Strauss, I was going through your files and I have found several discrepancies. Because of this, your current position is now under review," whisper to Fran, "What do you call a Warmaster without an officio again?"

Then maybe tack on, "Also, you're fired," at the end just to be classy like that.

Red sighed as she finally managed to escape into the back of the Tearoom, it was too early for this shit, it always was. She wasn’t what most people would expect in an upscale Japanese Tearoom, being 175cm tall and having bright red hair. But her place of employment wasn’t exactly a normal Tearoom either.

Situated in the heart of Downtown Mitakihara, it was a place frequented by only very high level management of the cities many corporations, their guests and people with sufficient “alternate” forms of power and respectability to get on the list. Yes there was a list, Red had it memorized and it had only changed a very few times in the near year and a half she had been working there.

It was funny, she thought as she went about her business behind the scenes, placing the orders for the light snacks the early arrivals wanted and heading for the tea-prep area, as a born and bred American she preferred coffee over tea. But the benefits of working at the Tearoom with no name were manifold, especially for someone of her status. For one, it paid well and had a generous amount of vacation days, all of which she needed. Secondly, neither the management nor the clientele asked questions about her past, something she was very grateful for. The third and most important reason however, was that it let her pick up on the pulse of the cities high level movers and shakers.

>>28492070That was her real job, to listen and gather information. While it was a place of quiet and relaxation for the big bosses, they also occasionally held important, unofficial gatherings where many of the real deals were made. While they were generally quiet enough to not be overheard and the place was regularly swept for bugs, Red had one major advantage over any other potential spy. She was a Magical Girl, with all the enhanced senses that went along with that.

As a Vindicare, it really wasn’t what she should be doing, a task like this would normally be assigned to a Callidus or Vanus, possibly even a more composed Eversor. But her officio didn’t have the luxury of assigning the right person to every task, they had to make do.

She chuckled as she quickly but efficiently prepared the natural tea that had been ordered. The small group of girls that she worked with directly and the various other groups that they were connected with weren’t really an Officio. For one, they didn’t have an incubator at the helm and all of them liked it just fine that way.

Finishing the tea, she looked at the small amount remaining after she poured. That was what they were; the dregs of the Magical Girl World, the ones who had slipped through the cracks either on purpose or because nobody cared to look for them. That was why they called themselves the “Lost Officio”, because nobody knew about them.

>>28492097Grabbing the tea and snacks she headed out, the polite smile expected of her easily finding its way back on her face. Technically that wasn’t true; there were people who knew about them. But those people didn’t talk about them, just like they didn’t talk about places like this Tearoom. They were a secret that was kept to dark corners and people with enough power and money to need completely anonymous help, help that was at the same time competent, discrete and ultimately expendable.

Gently placing their orders in front of the CFO’s of two of Japan’s largest corporations, Red idly wondered if she had ever done a job for them. Probably, she decided as she bowed politely and turned toward the door. At a high enough level of business it was inevitable that certain things needed to be done, whether to advance or halt someone or something else. That was just how it went.

Normally the real Officio’s would take care of things like that; retrieving lost property or people was something they did on a regular basis. But there were certain thing they didn’t do, things that were bad for business or their image, things that didn’t pay enough for them to care. That was where the Lost came in; they whatever work they could get, nothing was too small or too dark for them, no hole too deep for them as long as they could be found or paid to care.

>>28492115Taking her place against the wall, Red felt her grin slip into something more real for just a second as she straightened out the formal outfit she was wearing. If the girls in Santa Destroy ever saw her in a getup like this they would have laughed their heads off at the ridiculousness of it, none of them could have held this job for longer than an hour and that was being generous. But that was why she had left, she had never fit in, wasn’t quite crazy enough. She had run, desperate to get out of that place, to forget what she had done. She would never have made it except for…

It was then that the girl Red was thinking of walked through the front door, immediately drawing a smile to her face, one that she had to fight hard to suppress despite the fact she was early. No matter how many times Red saw her Mom’s golden curls, gentle smile and motherly attitude always made her feel better. Mom wasn’t her real name of course; nobody in the Lost used their real name anymore, too easy to track. But they were there, in the back of your mind or given quietly to a person you felt you could trust, just so that you wouldn’t be completely forgotten when the inevitable happened.

But Mom didn’t have a name, at least not that anyone was sure of. There were theories and rumors, some Red even believed. But in the end it didn’t matter who Mom really was, not to Red, not to any of the girls in the Lost. All that mattered was that she was the one who had saved them, let them leave whatever hells they had been in and gave them a chance at a new life, one that let them start over and forget the past, at least for the most part.

>>28492131As Mom sat down at her usual table, Red moved towards her professionally even though what she really wanted to do was run and give her a hug. Despite being in a position that was basically Warmaster and Incubator all in one, there wasn’t a girl in the Lost who wouldn’t bleed their last drop of blood or give the last light in their Soul-Gem for her. Mom was the one who arranged and gave out most of the big jobs, organized the various cells and managed to find Grief Seeds for them. She did near everything and the Lost Girls would give her everything they had right back.

Stepping up next to Mom, Red received a smile that made everything better, every worry go away, at least for a bit.

“Your usual Ma’am?” Red asked, staying in character.

“Yes please,” came Mom’s warm voice, playing the part of a customer.

Red nodded politely and head back to prepare Mom’s usual. She knew it by heart, everyone in the Mitakihara cell did since Mom took turns visiting their workplaces.

>>28492144Stepping back outside, Red placed Mom’s tea in front of her with real respect, not the applied respect she used for most of her clients.

“Will that be all?” Red asked, wondering if the light smell of pancakes had anything to do with Mom being early.

Mom took a sip of her tea before speaking quietly. “I need you to get your girls together,” she said quietly, her warm voice taking a turn for the serious even as her face betrayed nothing, “Something’s come up and I need you to deal with it. The normal time and place will work.”

Red nodded at this, “Yes ma’am,” she said a little louder than Mom, in case someone was attempting to listen in, “One morning special coming right up.”

Moving to the back to place the order, Red briefly wondered what Mom had planned for them. The Mitakihara cell was the one closest to Mom, they usually took turns making deliveries to the other cells and picking up anything they had for to give to her. She only called them together when something big was up.

Shaking her head, Red let the loose thread drop. It didn’t matter what Mom needed them to do, she and the other four girls in her cell would get the job done, even if it meant taking on the Blessed Lady herself.

>>28492202Don't think 4 would be enough. But they might be used against a smaller number of targets. Fuck, Wendy writeups mentioned her having a kill order on her head. These just might the executioners.

>>28490095>a fucking battleship, but modified enough that it kind of looks like a cruise ship at first glance. For one, it's painted completely white, with its name written on its side with golden cursive.>golden cursive

The cursive isn't written on, it's the normal hull that hasn't been painted over. The Thirteenth has an Iowa class golden weapon.

>>28492254That's it. We're done. Let's just commit suicide.We win because we die a quick and clean death.Mami wins because she no longer has to be disappoint in us.GW Wielders win because we ded.Pinky loses because fuck her and her torture plans.Only a shame Green also loses.

>>28492369I know I should probably check the wiki first, but offhand, are there any Officio numbers that aren't taken yet? I'm considering trying my hand at writing, but I haven't really read enough of the write-ups to feel comfortable setting it in an already existing Officio

>>28492449If you're planning to write something, you should probably read more of the write-ups anyways, just to get a good idea of the setting. Starting a new Officio is all well and good, but knowing the rest of the setting is kind of important.

>>28492449I don't know about the Fifth, or the Fifteenth.The rest are covered.

People are currently writing about the Second, Eighth, Tenth, possibly Thirteenth and Fourteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Twentieth. And the Lost Officio now. But most of the others have plans attached you'd have to work around/be spoiled on.But I really second >>28492475 here.

>>28492466Good question and one I'll have to think on. Her training probably emphasizes taking advantage of weaknesses. Next up, Ramenboobs.

>>28492418It's kind of funny that people think Odette was a bad Warmaster, seeing as she pretty much rebuilt the Officio from less than half-strength. The only part that she really failed at was diplomacy because she kept trying to pick fights and generally lacked fucks to give. The anti-Odette side is giving me ideas for up-coming stuff, though...

>>28492475>>28492525>>28492532Alright. I'm new to the writing thing, so I figured I'd just try it and see if I could do it, but I'll make time to read them. I figure I'll start with the Wendy write-ups and the Prose Magica stuff first, but are there any others that I should focus on?

>>28492594The Wendy stuff and PM are the big ones, but all of them are interesting and well worth reading. I'd suggest checking out Nubum's writeup ebook if you want to get them all in one place instead of binging pastebins.

>>28492587>lead a somewhat normal life away from the magical girl troubles.In a world where otaku, not just millionaires but rabid shut-in fans, can get together and hire Magical Girl support in order to kill an idol's entire security detail and rape her, I don't think there is such a thing as what you are describing.

And besides, it's really no different than the problems facing family of active-duty military personnel.

>>28492892Neutral is the least retarded, but Chaos and Law are only retarded because of retarded people! I think Devil Survivor treated them the most kindly, actually, where the Law and Chaos routes actually had reasonable representatives with goals and ideals that were more or less good.

>>28493336It might be worth considering plugging pastebins at the end of threads after a while. There were a few threads with like 5 different writefags posting their stories one after the other at one point.